


Waning

by breakdancingsigma (hetawholockvengerstuck)



Series: One-Shot Wonderfest [1]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-03
Updated: 2013-05-03
Packaged: 2017-12-10 07:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/783637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hetawholockvengerstuck/pseuds/breakdancingsigma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's clearest when the moon is full. As it begins to wane, he disappears, bit by bit, over and over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waning

How well Rapunzel could see him depended entirely on the moon.

Her favorite time of the month was the full moon, when Jack Frost was entirely there. She could hear his voice in full, see him with perfect clarity, and touch him, without worrying that her hands would grasp at thin air. Every full moon, he visited her. 

As soon as the full moon was gone, Jack would begin to fade. Over time, his voice would become an echo, a whisper, and then nothing; her hands would go through him, until she couldn't feel anything; he would grow more and more transparent, until he simply didn't exist. 

As far as Rapunzel knew, he didn't come during that time. It was too painful for both of them. 

Rapunzel knew she was lucky. Jack had told her that everyone else never saw him, that he was completely invisible to the rest of the world. For some reason, she could see him. But it only worked at certain times.

Rapunzel was afraid of growing up. She was afraid that she'd stop believing in Jack. No matter what she said, no matter how many times she painted him, she was afraid that a day would come when, despite the full moon, there was no trace of Jack Frost.

As her youth waned, she grew more and more desperate to believe. 

One night, Jack was late. He found her in a heap on her bed, sobbing. When she saw him, she held him tight.

"I thought I'd lost you..."

"Why would you think that?"

"I was afraid that I'd stopped believing."

Jack smoothed her hair. "If you care enough about remembering, I don't think you'll stop believing." 

Rapunzel couldn't tell if he was trying to reassure himself, or her. He was right, though. 

She realized that night that she loved him. And she also realized that, if you love someone, you never truly stop believing in them.


End file.
